6 Ways that Uniqlo can encourage story telling:

1. Focusing on Furoshiki wraps, explain how to do it and encouraging people to post their Furoshiki creations
2. Sending in personal photos of Uniqlo styling
3. Customers could design the graphics for a Uniqlo key chain with red, white, and black. Then people could vote on their favorite and that would be produced
4. Incorporating a hashtag in the design of shirt which would make an interesting graphic while advertising Uniqlo
5. Allowing users to design mannequins on their website in an interesting way on a flash website. The winner would be able to style the mannequins in the store
6. Photobooth in the store that will upload to a large wall of screens in the store

We decided expand on the first one, encouraging users to wrap packages and presents in the style of furoshiki. This is a fun, eco-friendly way of wrapping gifts or packages which a Pinterest audience would love. Users could also take photos or videos of their furoshiki creations and use the #uniqlo to make it searchable.

Lou demonstrated a Furoshiki wrap and posted it in on Instagram. Here is her creation:

Mameshiba is a cute personified bean or nut that comes to life. In these short, Japanese animated blips, he offers unsolicited trivia to the nearest person, seemingly unaware that his strange knowledge puts people off.

We chose to use Mameshiba for a short video as a spokesperson for Uniqlo socks. Our idea was to have a businessman put on an old sock with a hole in it. His big toe sticks out of the hole and becomes Mameshiba who exclaims, “Did you know… your feet are very stinky. Uniqlo’s Heat-Tech will keep your toes cozier and stink-free.”

This is a fun way to interact with their audience, which is very much what Uniqlo consistently does. It also brings a Japanese character into American culture. We love the way Uniqlo takes chances on advertising and we wanted our short video to reflect that.

Uniqlo is a fun and trendy Japanese clothing company, reflected in their quirky and innovative ad campaigns. They are masters of social media and interact with their audience through fun but cutting edge technologies. Some projects include online games you can play to win discounts or prizes: (also see my last post)

a pinball type game to win a discount or special prize

They are always using technology in fun ways like putting a Magic Mirror in their stores — people trying on outerwear can digitally change the color or pattern of their jacket, for instance, saving them time and giving them a new experience.

Magic Mirror

They also use new social media like Pinterest and Tumblr to reach their young, tech-savvy audience. This is the niche Uniqlo is filling. They leave traditional advertising to more traditional clothing companies and instead blur the lines between advertising and games.

Uniqlo’s customers’ challenges are finding affordable, high quality clothing that speaks to the millennial generation. Uniqlo is solving this problem through their unconventional campaigns which set them apart from competing labels such as H&M, Forever 21, and Zara. Their global and social responsibility also differentiates themselves, whether genuine or not. Forever 21 in particular went under fire a few years back for forcing their LA workers to suffer in sweatshop conditions. They have since moved manufacturing to China where it would be surprising if conditions were much different. Uniqlo acknowledges that the youth of today are more socially and environmentally aware of the impact manufacturers are making, while still realizing that they can’t afford boutique, made in USA prices.

The content their audience consumes are definitely social media and digital applications, probably even more than television. They even created an calendar app that you can download on your iPad, other mobile device, or even view in your browser. The tilt / shift video on the calendar changes depending on your location. It is a sort of passive, subtle advertising which explores how to be present to their audience without obnoxious tactics.

Uniqlo creates interesting yet consistent content that attracts new customers through their use of different digital media. Even though they use many different venues to be present to their audience, they are all in the same style and contribute to the Uniqlo personality. It is also with their ever-changing techniques that they keep themselves fresh, retaining existing customers and encouraging adoption of a Uniqlo lifestyle.

Of course the main objective a business wants is sales. But Uniqlo appears to want more than just a bottom line. They are creating an experience unique from other clothing companies. They have built and are still building a Uniqlo global community, evoking friendship and fun instead of distance with their potential and existing customer base.

For even more Uniqlo advertising methods, please visit my Pinterest board.

Uniqlo is a clothing store chain from Japan that was promoting the opening of their store in San Francisco. To do this, Uniqlo created an online game featuring a youtube-famous fat cat named Maru. Maru is loved by both San Franciscans and Japanese, so they chose him as a sort of spokesman. San Franciscans could go online, click on a box and watch Maru jump in it. If you picked a winning box, you could receive a free Uniqlo jacket or even ride in the Uniqlo blimp.

The target audience for this is young, mostly females but also males in their teens or early 20’s. Basically a demographic interested in trendy clothing and also up on viral youtube videos.

The story they are telling is that they are a fun and current company, interested in reaching out to their new customers in a different way.

The emotion they are conveying is definitely more lighthearted and fun-loving. Also, a little quirky and accessible.

Using a cute cat, Maru, is a sure-fire way to connect emotionally to their younger youtube loving audience with this game. It shows they are interested in their customers and willing to thing outside the box (pun intended) to engage with their audience.